Managing Power Options

You configure power options through the Power Options Properties dialog box. To access this dialog box, open Control Panel and click Power Options. The Power Options dialog box provides the ability to manage power plans and to control power options, such as when the display is turned off, when the computer sleeps, and what the power button does.

Configuring Power Plans

Windows 7 includes three configurable power plans: Balanced, Power Saver, and High Performance. Power plans control the trade-off between quick access to an existing computer session and energy savings. In Windows 7, each power plan contains default options that you can customize to meet the needs of various scenarios.

Balanced The Balanced power plan, as its name suggests, provides a balance between power savings and performance. By default, this plan is configured to turn off the display after 20 minutes, and to put the computer to sleep after one hour of idle time. These times can be modified as needed. Other power options that can be modified include Wireless Adapter settings and Multimedia settings. You can configure wireless adapters for maximum power saving or maximum performance. By default, the Balanced power plan configures wireless adapters for maximum performance. You can configure the Multimedia settings so that the computer will not be put into Sleep mode when sharing media from the computer. For example, if the computer is acting as a Media Center device, you can configure the computer to remain on by setting the Prevent Idling To Sleep option so that other computers can connect to it and stream media from it even when the computer is not being used for other purposes.

Power Saver The Power Saver power plan is optimized for power savings. By default, the display is configured to be turned off after 20 minutes of inactivity, and the computer is put into Sleep mode after one hour of inactivity. Additionally, this power plan configures hard disks to be turned off after 20 minutes of inactivity.

High Performance The High Performance power plan is configured to provide the maximum performance for portable computers. By default, the computer will never enter Sleep mode, but the display will be turned off after 20 minutes. When this setting is configured, by default, the Multimedia settings are configured with the Allow The Computer To Enter Away Mode option, which allows the computer to enter into a new power state called Away mode. Away mode configures the computer to appear off to users but remain accessible for media sharing. For example, the computer can record television shows when in Away mode.

You can modify the existing power plans to suit your needs by clicking Change Plan Settings, or you can use the preconfigured power plans listed in Table below.

Windows 7 Power Plans

After you decide which power plan is going to be used, you might want to configure some of the advanced power options. In the next section we'll discuss the various power options.